Saturday June 1, 2019
Arrival Day in Peru!
Sunday June 2, 2019
Today was our first day of service. We loved watching our students with the kids and fixing up the school greenhouse.
Monday June 3, 2019
Here are some photos from our hike and and market visit today after service.
Monday June 3, 2019 Part 2!
Hey this is Tara and Ela!
We have had a busy and fun day full of service. We switched off in two different groups; one group doing service and the other playing with the kids. For the service we made plaster to put on the greenhouse walls, and cleared out the inside of the building by tilling the soil and removing rocks.
Then, we played soccer (Cadmus was so sweet with the little boys), went on the swings (Lulu was especially cute with them), read books (Sadie and Maritza were great teachers), and ate with the kids. It was an awesome opportunity to practice our Spanish and experience the culture and lives of these kids. It was a successful first part of the day and we had a blast helping and learning.
For the second part of the day, the two groups split again with half going to one of Peru’s most famous air markets and the other half climbing and exploring a ruin that used to serve as a lookout for the Incan army. The views were beautiful and, though it was steep, it was amazing to be in the same place that all of those people were hundreds of years ago. The market was extremely vibrant and full of life.
Everything was colorful–from the largest blankets down to tiny little key chains. It was also a great opportunity to practice Spanish while bargaining. We bought tiny little llama statues (so cute!!), blankets woven from alpaca fur and snow globes. It was also very interesting to talk to the people working in the market as they told us stories about where all of the products came from. Overall, we are all safe, happy and excited for tomorrow!
Tuesday June 4, 2019
Photos from Tuesday!
Wednesday June 5, 2019
Hi Blog!
It’s Lulu and Ayisah here to report another full and exciting day here in Peru!
We woke up for an early breakfast at 6:30am and then got onto the bus where we drove to the lodge in Cuzipata, which means Happy Feet in Quecha. On our way we saw cows, sheep, and many beautiful mountains. About three hours later, we arrived at the rafting lodge, got our gear on, and then headed to the start of the river.
We listened to the safety and introduction speech and then went to the rafts for 25 minutes of practice. After, we rode through class two and three rapids where we had to practice working together as a team in order to keep the boat from flipping or hitting rocks. Although it was very cold, we all had lots of fun with our entertaining guides. Two hours later, we arrived back to the lodge, returned our gear, and headed inside.
We all immediately rushed to the sauna for some warmth. We were also all very relieved to hear that there were hot showers available. After getting warm and changing, we headed to the dining room for a delicious three course lunch (soup, chicken + rice, and banana bread). In addition to rafting, zip lining was another offered activity for today.
It included a brief ladder to the first platform (many said this was the scariest part) and then one zip line across the river and another to return to the lodge. We then said thank you and goodbye to our guides and loaded up on the bus to return to home base. After a long and tiring day, we quickly ate dinner and relaxed until it was time to go to sleep.
We can’t wait for tomorrow where we will be doing some more service and hiking another mountain!
Thursday June 7, 2019
More photos!
Sunday June 9, 2019
Afternoon arrival in aguas calentes. We wake up tomorrow (Monday) early early to catch a 30 min bus ride up to Machu Picchu. We got back this morning from our trek. All are exhausted and had a hard, but successful trek through the Andes. A once in a lifetime experience.
Off to bed.
Photos from the weekend and Monday:
